A Life of Quiet Strength and Devotion ~ Mother Pascalina

Behind many great works, there are souls who labor quietly, faithfully, and without recognition.

In this thoughtful article, Dominic Rizzo shares the life of Mother Pascalina—a woman whose hidden service and steadfast devotion helped sustain Pope Pius XII during one of history’s most difficult times.

Mother Pascalina: Model of Loyalty and Service

By Dominic Rizzo

​“We were not put on God’s green earth to be selfish,” said the nun. It was both an adage she used to encourage others and a fitting summation of her approach to life.

              Born in Bavaria in the late 19th century, Sister Pascalina Lehnert (later known as Mother Pascalina) lived a long life in service to God and man. In particular, she was devoted to Pope Pius XII.

Starting in 1917, she served as housekeeper, secretary, and general adviser to the then Cardinal Eugenio Pacelli during his time as Apostolic Nuncio to Bavaria. Later, Sister Pascalina joined Cardinal Pacelli in the Vatican following his election as Pope in 1939 (at which point she became known as Mother Pascalina or simply “Madre”). She continued in this role as the Pope’s cherished confidant until his death in 1958. 

            Mother Pascalina served the Pope during a particularly troubling time in history. At the beginning of Pacelli’s pontificate, World War II was just underway and demanded much of the Pontiff’s attention. 

Pascalina faced the daunting tasks of overseeing the domestic affairs of the Pope and handling his correspondence when many were seeking the Pontiff’s attention and the human costs of the war weighed heavily on his mind.

As such, she was able to see how Pius handled a worldwide crisis and its innumerable difficulties with his keen intellect and unshakable faith. In the course of her duties, she developed a high regard for the Pontiff and became one of his closest advisers. 

           Mother Pascalina proved highly competent in her administrative duties. In an environment dominated by hierarchy and protocol, Mother proved capable of performing her complex organizational and logistical duties to great effect. By bringing order to the Vatican household, she was able to ease the burden on the Pope and ensure that his workload did not exceed his immense capabilities. 

           In the course of her duties, Mother Pascalina was able to exemplify a stark realism in dealing with cardinals and other high-ranking members of Vatican society.

One instance in particular shows the way in which she and the Pope could use a bit of tactical maneuvering to achieve an admirable end. According to Pascalina, Pius XII greatly desired the canonization of his predecessor, Pope Pius X. By the time Pius X had four miracles attributed to him, Pius XII consulted with Padre Antonelli, the priest charged with overseeing Pius X’s cause. After learning from Antonelli that it would take another fifty years to have his predecessor canonized, the Pope went to Mother Pascalina:

“He asked ‘Of all the convents in the Holy Cross Order of Menzingen [the religious order to which Mother Pascalina herself belonged] which is the most remote—the furthest from a town; with the most inclement weather; the worst cook and cuisine; and the most uncomfortable beds?’

“Immediately, the little retreat house our order had in the Swiss Alps, far beyond Lausanne, came to mind,” [Pascalina] said with a chuckle, “I knew the cook there, quite well. She did her best but…”

           The Pope ordered Antonelli to take up residence at the house in the Swiss Alps and finish the documentation work required for the canonization of Pope Pius X. It took Antonelli just under three months to finish the work. 

In 1954, after the fifth miracle was verified, Pius X was canonized by Pope Pius XII. The whole process was remarkably streamlined for the time. 

           Mother Pascalina was a devoted servant to the Church in the figure of Pope Pius XII. Like the Pope, she knew what her role was and possessed a firm sense of responsibility in the performance of her duties.

Just as Pius knew that he was Vicar of Christ on earth and was responsible for the spiritual welfare of the human race, Pascalina knew that her role was to assist the Pope and ensure that no extraneous tasks or worries rendered his burden more difficult to bear. 

           One of the heaviest burdens weighing on the Pope was the persecution of the Jewish people by Nazi Germany. Contrary to the calumny later made against him, Pius XII did much to assist the Jewish people in Rome during this time. According to Pascalina:

“[W]hen the war was finally over, Dank sei Gott [praise God], the Jews of Rome were first to proclaim the Holy Father ‘Defensor Civitatis’[Defender of the City.]”

She went on to say how the Roman Jews rebuilt the Pope’s Castel Gandolfo summer residence, a token of their gratitude to him for having opened its doors to 3,000 Jews during the Nazi occupation of Rome; how he was declared a Righteous Gentile by Golda Meir, for his countless and tireless efforts in saving European Jews during the ten years of Nazi domination, and how the chief rabbi of Rome, Rabbi Israel Zolli and his entire family, having witnessed and benefited from such authentic Christian charity, converted to Catholicism.

            Thus did the Roman Jews show their appreciation for the Pope as assisted in his work by the holy nun from Bavaria.

             Despite the practical nature of her work, Mother Pascalina knew that her task was primarily spiritual in nature. Her life was one of prayer, humility, and service to others. Pope Pius XII greatly appreciated and benefited from the role she played. 

As such, Mother provides a wonderful example of how quiet dedication and moral courage can render the most onerous tasks manageable. All that is necessary, as she shows, is to carry the cross in imitation of the One who first bore it for us.

The wife’s immediate responsibility however is toward her husband. She is his minister, his eye, his hand, his head and heart, in applying his wealth or the produce of his industry to the ends for which God wills it to be employed. -Fr. Bernard O’Reilly, True Womanhood 1894

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Few women in the 20th century wielded more power and influence than did Josefine Lehnert (1894-1983). No woman, in twenty centuries, ever wielded more power and influence in the Vatican.When Josefine Lehnert entered Holy Cross Convent [Menzinger, Switzerland] she was given the name “Pascalina.”

In 1917, the beautiful young nun from Bavaria and two other Sisters were sent to Munich to organize and maintain the nunciature. The Holy See’s newly appointed Nuncio to Bavaria was 41-year-old Eugenio Pacelli. For the rest his diplomatic career, Schwester Pascalina would remain his personal secretary, housekeeper and ne plus ultra confidante. When Pacelli was recalled to Rome in 1929 and subsequently made a cardinal and appointed Secretary of State, he requested that Sister Pascalina be permitted to continue working with him. She was the first woman ever to reside in the Apostolic Palace.

In 1939, on the first ballot and by a unanimous [minus one] vote, Eugenio Pacelli became the world’s 260th Pope; the twelfth to take the name “Pius.”Romanità —an unofficial yet rigorous ecclesiastical/Italianate protocol that permeates diplomacy to this day— saw fit to “promote” the new pontiff’s secretary. Henceforth, “Sister” Pascalina was “Mother” Pascalina.

Strong woman that she was, “La Madre” was keenly and constantly aware of the tightrope she was walking —and more so of the snake pit just below it. As the pope’s closest confidante, she strove for anonymity; kept any opinion she might have had on any matter, private or public, strictly to herself; avoided photographers and journalists like the plague and —perhaps most challengingly of all— ignored every cruel rumor and innuendo, never dignifying one of them with a response.

Undoubtedly, Pope Pius XII was a giant among men; an outstanding intellectual; a savior to countless victims of World War II; a courageous advocate for the voiceless; a born leader who understood a complicated world and its leaders, good and evil; a Pope worthy to be called “Great”.It is said that “Behind ever great man is a great woman.” The history of Pope Pius XII and Mother Pascalina requires one very important word change to that maxim: “Beside every great man stands a great woman.”

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